THE SPAM MAFIA

Spam continues to rule the inboxes with a scalp of nearly 40% of all emails. Majority of the world's networks are protected by anti-spam software but the fact remains that all the networks are attacked by spam. While almost all of the Internet users think only about the anti-spam software, it is equally important to know about the most threatening spam service providers of the Internet world.  

Some of the large Internet Service Providers sell their services knowingly to professional spammers for profit and this is one of the main reasons why spam continues to plague Internet. Many networks claim to be anti-spam but do nothing to prevent spammers operating from their networks. Few others feel that it is too expensive to plug holes in their system, trying to keep the spammers away from their networks.  

According to Spamhaus, a UK based international spam tracking organization, the worst spam service ISP is mci.com, which is part of iMedia Networks, USA, a full-fledged criminal spam-hosting operation server, owned by Michael Lindsay. BlueStream Media is another US based spam generating company that comes second in the list and has a network address of sbc.com. Third most notorious spam network is comcast.net. Comcast Corp. is the largest provider of high-speed Internet in the and recently spammers have started exploiting one of Comcast’s channels to send out large volumes of malicious e-mail.  

The network currently holding the fourth place in this dreaded group is cncgroup-hl. Sources link this network with a spam operation run by AWG aka youngjoo aka qline(unlikely to be the real name) . AWG is said to attack inboxes around the world with mails from Japanese spammers of "deai-kei" or "dating" spam. Their services include distributing pornography aimed at Japanese users, most of the mails are in Japanese, so the spam often appears illegible, or simply filled with "?????", to the users in western countries.  

Most of the spam that is being sent in the world has some links with the world’s most dreaded spammer, who is known in the Internet world as Alex Blood or Alex Polyakov. This Ukrainian leads a massive botnet and child-porn spam ring that has wreaked havoc among internet users. Some sources say that Alex is the brain behind the now famous “PharmaMaster”, the spammer that dismantled Blue Security. He is also said to have links with Lindsay and another notorious spammer named Leo Kuvayev.  

Most of the accomplished spamming and phishing sites and providers are well known for their on line disguises. These sites spoof the email address, logos and other salient features of institutions like Ebay, PayPal and this proves to be a good bait to lure naïve and innocent browsers into disclosing information such as passwords or credit card numbers.  

Related article: Two Factor Security Hazard Is Still There

» SPAMfighter News - 6/3/2006